"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
-Albert Einstein
I think it's just human nature to have to complicate things. But when you're in the clinic, that is no time to be an academic or philosopher.
I've always harped on clinical results. Working in the clinic is working in the trenches so to speak. This is where the rubber meets the road. Any flowery ideas of acupuncture or Chinese medicine, all the lovely beautiful concepts and theories, they mean nothing. Results are the only thing that matters - and the treatments behind them. While many think this disparages the "art", what it actually is, is putting the patient first. I will never apologize for putting the patient above ideology that doesn't deliver results, and only serves to comfort one's ego.
I've seen so many peeps brag about what they can do. What they know, how they can "control qi", or the degrees they have. Something is always missing in this bragging though - the patient.
Learning is fun, philosophy is extremely interesting, exploring new idea is important. But in the clinic it's all about keeping it simple.
Likewise, how are you explaining things to your patients? Are you lecturing on the differences between acupuncture and dry needling? Are you over explaining how your treatments are helping them? Have you noticed they glaze over after about 30 seconds?
It's best to keep working on your scripts and saying things very direct. Give the patients what they need - results. We excel in the clinic, delivering the tools we've learned. If we're talking, we're not working (unless you can do both at the same time).
And please, keep it simple!
Thank you to @susan_beck for showing me this
Neat little feature on the Locals Phone app.
Bookmarks Help you save post and videos that you want to go back to later.
Spring is coming… eventually. And when it does, runners will start emerging again, not just the die-hards who have been braving the cold all winter. I treat a whole spectrum of runners in clinic, from Ironman athletes to weekend joggers and everything in between. This webinar is an absolute goldmine, and I hope you get as much out of it as I have.
Vascular TOS, anyone? I have a good friend (male, 45 yo) who was developing blood clots in his arm and underwent 1st rib removal surgery 5 years ago. Recently he was hospitalized with another blood clot. MDs are divided as to what to do (re-route his jugular, for example). I'm wondering if there's anything I can offer him acupuncturally to help prevent clots regardless of whatever else he's doing. (He's now on blood thinners.) @Exstoreman have you ever treated a vascular form of TOS?
Question about a patient - chronic low back pain, but also has pain under the left sit bone aggravated by sitting, which is worse and more noticeable than the back pain.
Bilateral TFL and psoas tested inhibited
SLR negative
First visit - treated bilateral internal oblique, TVA, glute max and glute med - saw 50% improvement
Repeated same treatment, came back and said pain was worse and back to where it was before starting treatment.
Treated her today face up - internal oblique, TVA, and TFL bilateral with stim.
Curious if you have any insights as to how else I could approach this? Thank you!
@Exstoreman I now have several patients with L4-L5 herniation and drop foot and/or leg-foot nerve pain. Some of them are making good progress, others not so much.
Should I be doing soft tissue work around L4-L5 and/or elsewhere?
And you previously mentioned there's a way to use gua sha effectively for this (since I have hand/wrist injury), can you describe that?
